


A Little Help From My Friends

by smilebackwards



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M, Oblivious, Pining, Wooing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-24
Updated: 2010-07-24
Packaged: 2017-11-04 02:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/388624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilebackwards/pseuds/smilebackwards
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It was really kind of sad watching him pine after you all the time, while you just went about business as usual," Ariadne says.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Help From My Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://inception-kink.livejournal.com/profile)[**inception_kink**](http://inception-kink.livejournal.com/) prompt: [_everyone on the team has figured out what's going on between Eames and Arthur -- except for Arthur_](http://community.livejournal.com/inception_kink/756.html?thread=134388#t134388)

"Darling," Eames says, "would you be so kind as to pass me the tape deck?"

Arthur hands it to him automatically. Then he gives himself a mental slap for responding to the term as if it were his name. Ariadne is sitting right next to Eames as well. He could just as easily have been speaking to her. Except Arthur knows he wasn't.

"Thank you, dearest," Eames says, smirking.

Arthur turns away, not noticing how fast the smirk slips off Eames's face. He and Eames plug into the PASIV and drift to sleep.

-

They end up in a gay bar called The Rose Garden. The name and decor make Arthur reflect on the fact that Ariadne has probably never actually _been_ to a gay bar. Either way, it's bad news for the mark's wife. Her husband is currently making out with a bleach blond projection in a suit Arthur rather admires.

"The projections are staring at me," Arthur tells Eames. "I think we should go."

"Arthur, darling," Eames replies, sipping a fruity pink drink, "they're staring at you because you're gorgeous, not because they're going to attack you."

Arthur thinks about grabbing Eames's drink and taking a sip to check exactly how high the alcohol content is. His hand twitches toward the glass.

Eames rolls his eyes like he knows what Arthur is thinking. He downs the rest of the drink in two swallows and says, "But if it makes you feel better we can go outside."

There actually is a rose garden outside the bar, trellises climbing the brick walls of the structure.

Eames plucks a blood red rose and offers it to Arthur. "For you, love," he says, eyes crinkled in a smile that looks somehow less a smirk than usual. Arthur considers refusing, but the bloom is lovely and Eames is twisting the thorns off the stem in an oddly tender gesture.

"Thank you," Arthur says instead, dignified, and breaks the stem in half so he can tuck the rosebud into the buttonhole of his suit.

Eames's pleased smile turns into the kick and they wake up in the warehouse.

Arthur stretches and straightens his suit, fingers lingering on the buttonhole which no longer holds a rose. Eames excuses himself and Arthur goes to share their findings with Dom.

When Eames returns he's holding a blood red rose, the thorns already removed, and he offers it to Arthur with aplomb. "Since you couldn't bring the first one back with you."

Arthur's lips curve upward without his conscious control. He snaps the stem and fits the rose into his buttonhole.

-

"I think we should all go out for a nice dinner somewhere to celebrate a job well done," Ariadne says. "I'll call Saito and see if he can come as well," she adds, before anyone can dissuade her.

Although, Arthur thinks it's actually quite a good idea. There is a rather heinous amount of fold-up Chinese takeout boxes full of congealing sweet and sour chicken lying around the warehouse.

As it turns out, Saito has a business dinner to attend and Dom and Yusuf beg off to complete some fascinating new experiment. Ariadne promises to bring them back leftovers.

"I made reservations at Madeo," Eames says, as the three of them pile into his Bentley.

"Oh, lovely," Ariadne sighs. "Very ro--," she cuts off and gives Arthur a nervous look before clearing her throat and finishing, "very... robust pasta there."

Arthur refrains from giving her the strange look that deserves.

"I'm rather craving pasta myself," Eames says cheerfully, smoothing over the moment.

They're seated at a table for three with fine linen napkins and a flickering candle for a centerpiece. Arthur pulls out Ariadne's chair for her and then rolls his eyes when Eames does the same for him. They settle in to look over the menus and Eames orders a bottle of wine.

A few minutes later, Ariadne excuses herself to the bathroom. She comes back looking pale and wan. "Are you all right?" Arthur asks, concerned.

"Actually I'm feeling a little ill," she replies, collecting her purse and jacket from the chair back. "I don't think I'll be able to make it through dinner. I'm so sorry. You two enjoy."

Arthur considers suggesting that they just leave and get takeout Chinese like usual, but then the wine arrives and Eames orders a calamari appetizer.

It's oddly nice sipping wine and talking to Eames when he's not making sexually-harassing remarks, Arthur finds. Eames has a great many interesting stories.

When the waiter returns, Eames orders for the both of them. Arthur is too happily buzzed on the wine to make a comment, though he wonders how Eames knew exactly what he wanted.

It's late in the evening, a time for lovers, and the restaurant dims the overheads so the main source of light is the candles on the table. The soft light of the flame smoothes away all of Eames's sharp edges, reflecting warmth in his eyes.

Arthur protests, but Eames gets the check and they leave the restaurant companionably. Out in the cool night air, Arthur takes a deep breath and smiles at Eames. "I had a nice evening. Thank you," he says, politely.

Eames leans toward him, close enough that Arthur can feel his breath against his ear, and holds position for several seconds. Arthur doesn't move and Eames leans away, seeming dispirited.

Arthur looks at him curiously and Eames recovers his smile. "We should do it again sometime," he says.

-

When Arthur arrives at the warehouse the next day, Ariadne and Eames are having a conversation that involves a great deal of arm-waving and Ariadne hitting her forehead with the heel of her hand.

"Are you feeling better?" he asks her, when she comes over to speak with him.

"What?" she asks, wrong-footed. "Oh, yes, I feel much better. Saito's finally coming around tonight and we're all going out for drinks," she informs him.

"All right," Arthur says, going back to his files.

They head out to the bar around midnight and Ariadne leads them to a small booth in the back even though there are larger, more accommodating tables at the front. Eames squishes in next to Arthur, their sides pushed flush against one another, and stretches an arm out behind Arthur. "Sorry, darling," he says, "A bit cramped in here."

Ariadne whispers something in Saito's ear that makes him throw a look in Arthur's direction. "You are not serious," he says and then he laughs and buys everyone a round of sake.

Ariadne gets Arthur a Tequila Sunrise before he's even downed the shot. After that, Yusuf orders him a Rum and Coke, Dom decides he's going to have to be a designated driver and offers Arthur his scotch and Eames puts something called a Slippery Nipple in front of him. Arthur can feel his mind going hazy and languid, but it seems rude not to drink what people have ordered him.

It's only Arthur, Dom and Eames left in the booth now, but Arthur is still pressed up against Eames's side because his body feels too comfortable to move.

"You know," Dom says conversationally, "I'm not sure I really trust you to take care of Arthur."

Arthur feels Eames's shoulder go tense beneath his cheek. "I'll take bloody good care of him, Cobb," Eames refutes, angry. Arthur tries to burrow his face further into Eames's shoulder because he hates it when people are fighting and Eames puts a soothing had on his neck.

"I'm willing to let you give it a try if he is," Dom says cryptically, like this is about more than Eames seeing Arthur back to his hotel. "I just want you to be aware that if he gets hurt, there will be consequences." Consequences sounds very weighty and out of the corner of his eye, Arthur thinks he sees Dom make a hand motion like shooting a gun, pointer and thumb.

Arthur lifts his head to squint blearily at him, but Dom just gives him a fond look and his head is very heavy, so Arthur lets it fall to rest back on Eames's shoulder. Eames strokes a hand through Arthur's hair. "I've got him," he tells Dom.

Eames guides Arthur back to his hotel room and helps him out of his suit. The way Eames carefully folds his slacks over the back of a chair and hangs his jacket in the closet makes Arthur's heart beat too fast. Eames brings him an Advil and makes him drink two glasses of water before he tucks the coverlet over Arthur's shoulders.

"Sometimes I really do like you very much," Arthur tells him, sweetly, because it seems important.

Eames brushes a thumb over Arthur's cheekbone. "I like you very much all the time," he says quietly, just before Arthur falls asleep.

-

When Eames comes in the next morning, late, Arthur can't even find it in himself to be annoyed. He just remembers the night before, the way Eames slung an arm around his shoulder to keep him steady on his feet and helped him to bed, and finds himself giving the man a wide, genuine smile in place of a scowl.

So when Eames grabs the lapels of Arthur's suit and uses them to slam him against the wall, Arthur is a little confused. "Eames," he says slowly, "are you okay?" Eames's eyes burn white-hot.

Arthur darts a look around the warehouse for help, but Ariadne is covering an inexplicable smile and Yusuf isn't even bothering to hide his amusement about the situation.

Arthur turns his eyes to Dom, who can always be relied upon for over-protective big brother instincts, but Dom just gives him a look that says 'you brought this on yourself' and goes back to reading blueprints.

Arthur bends his neck back to Eames. He gets as far as "Um..." before Eames cups his large hands behind Arthur's head and pushes their mouths together. It starts out punishing and gentles until Arthur starts to kiss back.

"Oh," Arthur says, raising a hand to touch his lips. "Really?"

"Yes, darling, _really_ ," Eames says with affectionate exasperation. "That's why I gave you roses and took you out for a romantic dinner and heroically refrained from molesting you last night when you were lying half on top of me all rumpled and--"

Arthur surges forward, wrapping his arms around the back of Eames's neck and pulling his mouth back to Arthur's. Yusuf wolf-whistles and Ariadne claps enthusiastically. "I think we," Arthur says, between kisses, "should go somewhere," he waits for Eames to let go of his bottom lip, "else."

"I concur," Eames says, dragging Arthur out the door.

They're strapped into Eames Bentley and pulling out onto the freeway before Arthur asks, "So where are we going?"

"Darling," Eames says, strained, "I would like nothing more than to fuck you in the backseat, considering that's the closest available horizontal surface, but we should do this right. Your hotel room?"

Arthur slides a hand up Eames's thigh. "I'm actually okay with car sex," he admits and the tires squeal as Eames pulls over and pushes Arthur into the backseat.

-

Dom reaches down into a cooler beside his feet and cracks open a beer, handing it to Arthur. "Congratulations," he says dryly.

Arthur accepts the bottle, blushing, and trying to straighten his tie so it looks less like he just got fucked in the backseat of a Bentley.

Ariadne laughs and comes over to kiss both Arthur and Eames on the cheek. "Finally," she winks.

"I know," Eames moans in agreement, sliding his arm around Arthur's waist, solid. "Rather oblivious, this one."

"Oh my God," Arthur says, suddenly putting pieces together. He remembers The Rose Garden, how Ariadne abruptly took ill at Madeo, the way she got drunk on two shots and needed Yusuf to drive her home. "Were you helping him with all his ridiculous farces?" he asks incredulously.

"Well, _yeah_ ," Ariadne admits, without shame. "It was really kind of sad watching him pine after you all the time, while you just went about business as usual."

Arthur turns to Dom. "And you, when you were talking about taking care of me and consequences last night, were you _warning him off me_?"

"I wasn't warning him off you," Dom replies placidly. "I was just warning him that if he fucked you around and broke your heart, the next time we went down to the third level I'd shoot him between the eyes."

Eames winces. "Don't worry, I got that loud and clear, even if Arthur didn't."

Arthur covers his eyes in horror, but Eames chuckles and slides a warm palm down to the small of Arthur's back. He maneuvers Arthur into his arms so Arthur can rest his chin on Eames's shoulder and Eames can brush a kiss to his temple.

Arthur supposes it's worth it.


End file.
